Keep The Wound

[VERSE 1 — deep baritone, dirty bass groove] I know where it hurts. I know where to press. I know how to make a good day turn into a fucking mess. Give me something beautiful— I'll find what's wrong with it. Give me something worth keeping— I'll loosen my fucking grip. [INSTRUMENTAL — slap bass against low, stuttering guitar] [PRE-CHORUS — vocal nearly whispered] Maybe I don't want it gone. Maybe that's what scares me most. [CHORUS — huge soulful clean vocal] **Keep the wound. Keep it close. Keep the thing that hurts the most.** If I let it disappear, what the fuck is left in here? I've carried this so long I don't know who I'd become. So heal the rest. Leave this one. **Keep the wound.** [INSTRUMENTAL — bass-led groove shifts meter; guitars become increasingly violent] [VERSE 2 — rhythmic clean vocal building into screams] I've rehearsed the worst nights till I know them line for line. Every detail gets a polish. Every memory gets a shrine. And whenever something good comes— I make damn sure it won't last. Because nothing feels more like home than crawling through the past. [STOP] Fuck. I said **home**. [BREAKDOWN — grotesque half-time groove] DON'T TOUCH IT. DON'T MOVE IT. DON'T TELL ME I CAN LOSE IT. I KNOW IT HURTS. I KNOW IT'S MINE. **I'VE KEPT THIS FUCKER ALIVE.** [FINAL CHORUS — soaring clean vocal over crushing guitars] **Keep the wound. Keep it close. Keep the thing that hurts the most.** If I let it disappear, what the fuck is left in here? I've carried this so long I don't know who I'd become. So heal the rest. Leave this one. **Keep the wound.** [INSTRUMENTAL — bass repeats chorus rhythm alone]